Chapter 17

17 – Mia Lauren Hudson

I kept you here inside, where almost no one can reach, where few remain.

— Dear John

I needed to stay focused, remain indifferent to the thoughts circling my head. I just needed to occupy my mind. Night was falling, and I was in a room with three people helping me with my clothes, makeup, and hair. It was obvious I could do all that by myself, but I was married to a film director, and I needed to be impeccable that night because I would be by his side.

I was very grateful that the cameras didn’t reflect the interior; otherwise, I was a mess. The chaos was present in every organ of mine, especially one that pumped blood. I couldn’t help but think of that fateful afternoon, of Apollo’s surprise and, suddenly, unwanted presence at NewScene.

There was no meeting that day, nothing related to our movie, but I had to tell Jamie about my situation that evening. I had to explain to him that I couldn’t be seen with NewScene producers because Bradley still didn’t know abo